What Innovations Make Web 3.0 Possible?

05 Dec 2018

Web 3.0 is nearly upon us. You may not have even noticed the transitions that are happening on the internet today. Chances are, we’ll look back at the period between 2015 and 2020 as a turning point in the history of the internet, similar to the Web 2.0 revolution in the early 2000s. The technologies that make Web 3.0 possible will all come to maturity within the next few years. Here are three of those technologies:

Artificial Intelligence

It’s hard to imagine a future where artificial intelligence (AI) doesn’t play an enormous role in day-to-day life. AI promises to automate many of the intellectual tasks we perform every day. That includes setting your thermostat at home, driving your car, paying for items at the store, and possibly even helping with parts of your job. Because AI can learn and improve over time, it’s hard to imagine many tasks that won’t eventually under the purview of AI applications.

Machine learning is one of the major frontiers for AI development that’s already impacting our society. Indeed, machine learning already touches your daily life and you may not have even noticed it. When Amazon recommends a product to you, YouTube suggests a related video to watch, or Facebook recognizes a friend’s face and asks if you’d like to tag them. They’re all using machine learning algorithms to make predictions, customize your experience online, and influence you.

This trend toward automation and customization will only continue to grow over the coming years of the Web 3.0 revolution.

Internet of Things

Our lives are filled with hundreds of objects that we interact with on a daily basis, from alarm clocks to refrigerators to subway passes. If each of these objects could connect with one another with more secure network protocols, we could take a lot of hassle out of life, while also gathering useful data about preferences and behavior. Smart thermostats, home security systems, and keyless cars are all current examples of the Internet of Things at work. In the future, even more objects will become smart and connected, so that life becomes seamless, your devices are already on and ready, and they anticipate your preferences.

Blockchain

In a future where artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things know so much about us and our preferences, privacy becomes a major concern. The blockchain is the missing piece of the open, connected, proactive Web 3.0, because it allows users to tokenize, secure, and protect their data while also enabling sharing with authorized parties. The secret is in blockchain’s cryptography, which makes data easy to access if you know the private key, but nearly impossible to crack without it.

Blockchain assets exist on a decentralized ledger maintained by thousands of computers around the world. This means there’s no central authority controlling the infrastructure for Web 3.0. Instead, anyone anywhere in the world can access the blockchain at any time, allowing for instant, secure, and open movement of data and value around the globe.